With one tough challenge behind and one ahead, the Plymouth Wildcats varsity boys tennis team remains in good shape as the 2014 season winds down.

Plymouth finished fifth Tuesday at Plymouth-Canton Educational Park for the KLAA top bracket tournament. The top three teams per division competed.

With the tournament winding down, Novi and Northville were in the top two positions with 26 and 23 points, respectively.

Canton finished tied for sixth with seven points.

"We're okay with being in the top five out of 24 teams," Plymouth head coach Tom Kimball said. "We picked up our 2014 (KLAA South) division champions trophy and that's our fourth in a row.

"So our seniors have only known (winning) that title for all four years, so it's kind of cool."

Final statistics for the meet were not available as of press time, but Kimball liked how his squad competed against strong opponents.

"The highlights are that, even in the matches that we lost, our guys competed and completed closely with the best teams in our league," Kimball said. "Which include the best teams in the state. We're competing with confidence, win or lose, against the top teams in Michigan."

All season long, Plymouth has boasted a standout lineup both in singles and doubles and Kimball can't wait to see how his team fares at its next challenge — Friday's Division 1 regional.

"We have ourselves set up in pretty good shape and we expect probably to have our best regional performance ever," Kimball said. "I think we have the best team the school's ever had and we hope we show that with the results that we've had throughout the season and with the results we expect on Friday."

For Plymouth to qualify for the state finals, the squad will need to finish in the top two or garner 15 points or more. No. 1 singles players also qualify if they make the finals.

For the Wildcats, that means junior Jordan Lu has an excellent chance.

"Our No. 1 singles player (Lu) is seeded No. 2, so he is seeded to make the finals," Kimball noted. "But he has two very good players he has to beat to make the finals.

"If he does that, then he would become the second player in Plymouth history to make it to states."

Other Plymouth singles players include sophomore Matt Decker (No. 2 singles), senior Charlie Hou (No. 3 singles) and sophomore Deven Patel at No. 4 singles, who Kimball said "has the best record of anyone on the team."